Chapter 8 – The Flowers

Taki stood silently, his eyes fixed in Sakura’s direction.

For a moment, the world felt frozen.

Then suddenly, his phone rang.

The vibration felt unnaturally loud in the quiet air.

He looked at the screen.

Police Officer.

His heart sank.

He answered the call.

The voice on the other end sounded urgent.

“Please come to the police station immediately. We’ve found something related to Hoto’s murder.”

For a second, Taki felt fear crawl up his spine.

His fingers tightened around the phone.

Without saying much, he ended the call.

He looked at Sakura.

He didn’t say anything.

He simply took her home first, making sure she was safe.

After dropping her off, he turned around and headed straight toward the police station.

It was already night.

The temperature had dropped sharply.

The cold air pierced through his clothes as if it was trying to reach his bones.

The streets felt emptier than usual.

Lonelier.

Darker.

At the police station, Taki stood in front of the officer.

The officer looked serious.

Taki spoke first.

“Please tell me… what did you find out about Hoto’s murder?”

The officer stared at him for a moment.

Then he began.

“We went back to the bar where you and Hoto were last seen drinking together.”

“We did some investigation there.”

“One man told us that Hoto left the bar with another man.”

Taki’s breathing slowed.

The officer continued.

“When we checked the CCTV footage of the beer bar, the man’s face wasn’t very clear.”

“But we managed to capture a rough image.”

The officer turned the monitor toward Taki.

“Can you identify this man?”

Taki leaned forward and stared at the screen.

The footage was blurry.

The figure was unclear.

The face… barely visible.

Taki shook his head slowly.

“I don’t know this man.”

“The face isn’t even clear.”

“How am I supposed to recognize who this is?”

The officer nodded calmly.

“That’s fine.”

“You can leave for now.”

Taki turned around, ready to go.

But just as he reached the door, the officer spoke again.

“There’s one more thing.”

Taki stopped.

The officer said quietly,

“From the condition of the body, it appears that Hoto committed suicide.”

Taki froze.

His mind went completely blank.

“S… suicide?”

His voice trembled.

“That’s impossible.”

He turned back sharply.

“There’s no way Hoto could commit suicide.”

“You just showed me the CCTV footage.”

“You clearly saw that another man stopped him and took him away.”

“That means that man killed him.”

“And you’re calling this suicide?”

The officer sighed.

“We thought the same at first.”

“But after the post-mortem, we found something disturbing.”

The officer paused.

“Hoto stabbed himself.”

“Multiple times.”

“And the knife used to stab him…”

“…was found in his pocket.”

“The knife had only Hoto’s fingerprints on it.”

Taki felt like the ground beneath him had disappeared.

His entire body went numb.

“No…”

“This can’t be real.”

This couldn’t be happening.

The officer spoke again.

“We still haven’t reached a final conclusion.”

“We don’t know for sure if it was suicide or murder.”

“But based on the evidence…”

“…there are more chances that it was suicide.”

Taki didn’t reply.

He turned around and walked out of the police station.

As he walked through the dark streets, only one thought repeated in his mind.

No.

Hoto couldn’t have committed suicide.

He kept replaying the CCTV image in his head.

Who was that man?

Why did he stop Hoto?

Who really killed him?

By the time he reached home, his thoughts were tangled beyond repair.

Sakura was still sad.

Taki acted normal in front of her.

He smiled.

He spoke gently.

But the truth was…

He had forgotten how to cry.

Maybe he had already shed all the tears he had inside him.

Still, he tried everything to ease Sakura’s sadness.

The next morning came too quickly.

Taki was getting ready for the office.

His boss had already called him more than ten times.

He hadn’t slept properly all night.

His eyes burned.

His chest felt heavy.

He wanted to cry.

But he couldn’t.

No tears came out.

Only silence.

Only questions.

Why?

Why did this happen?

What is happening?

Sakura was still sad.

But she seemed slightly better than before.

Taki stood in front of her.

He smiled like a normal person.

As if nothing had happened.

Sakura knew.

She knew he was acting.

She knew that smile was fake.

Inside, Taki was already broken.

Taki left for the office.

On the way, a thought crossed his mind.

“I should visit Sakura’s parents’ grave and offer flowers.”

He stopped by a flower shop.

A beautiful young woman was selling flowers there.

She looked up and smiled.

“Sir, which flowers would you like?”

Taki didn’t respond.

He was lost in his thoughts.

The woman spoke again.

“Hello, sir?”

“Where are you lost?”

“Which flowers do you want?”

Taki suddenly snapped back to reality.

“Oh… yes.”

“Sorry.”

“Please give me those flowers.”

The woman looked at him carefully.

“There’s something about you.”

“You look very tense.”

“What happened?”

Taki replied softly,

“Nothing.”

“Just work pressure.”

The woman shook her head.

“No.”

“That’s not work pressure.”

“You’re lying.”

Taki was about to say something.

But before he could speak, the woman smiled and said,

“No matter what happens in life…”

“…we should always stay happy.”

“No matter how bad things get…”

“…we should never let go of our smile.”

“You can’t add time to your life.”

“But you can add life to your time.”

“So keep smiling.”

She handed him the flowers.

“That will be five dollars.”

Taki just stared at her.

For a moment, he forgot everything else.

As he turned to leave, the woman called out to him.

“Wait.”

She smiled again.

“My name is Saazi.”

“This flower is from me.”

She handed him one extra flower.

Taki didn’t know what to say.

But something inside him felt… lighter.

He walked away.

He reached Sakura’s parents’ grave.

But what he saw made him stop.

Someone had already placed flowers there.

Taki’s eyes widened.

Shock ran through him.

“Who placed these flowers?”

“Other than me and Sakura… who else would come here?”

He bent down.

Under the flowers, there was a letter.

Taki picked it up.

On it were only two words:

“Not you.”

Taki didn’t understand.

What did this mean?

Who left this letter?

Why here?

His chest tightened.

But he ignored it.

He placed his flowers on the grave.

Then he left for the office.

As soon as he reached the office, he was buried in work.

Files.

Deadlines.

Pressure.

His manager started shouting at him.

“I want all of this done today!”

“I need everything completed!”

Taki looked up.

“I can’t do all of this in one day.”

“This is impossible.”

The manager didn’t listen.

“Do it.”

“Just do it.”

Taki sat down.

And began working.

Chapter 8 End

Written by – Minus